clei2003v2

Integrating Latin American and European Research and Education Networks through the ALICE projectOctober 2003: 

Integrating Latin American and European Research and Education Networks through the ALICE project October 2003 Michael Stanton Member, CLARA Technical Committee Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa do Brasil - RNP <michael@rnp.br> Cathrin Stöver Project Manager, ALICE Project DANTE <cathrin@dante.org.uk>

A Brief Story of Networking in Latin America: 

A Brief Story of Networking in Latin America Political, linguistic and cultural considerations have traditionally led to considerable interaction between countries within the region However, networking has not followed this model: First connections (BITNET) starting 1986 using satellite links between the US and each country separately Same topology inherited with transition to Internet Even multilateral initiatives (RedHUCyT in mid 90s and AMPATH from 2001) have used traffic hubs in the US.

First global conections from LA countries: 

First global conections from LA countries Two “classical” phases of connectivity: e-mail networks (BITNET, UUCP) full Internet (IP) connectivity Table shows the first connections for each LA NREN (National Research and Education Network)

Influence of telecommunications infrastructure: 

Influence of telecommunications infrastructure Until very recently, the only available telecom infrastructure for data communication was by satellite cost independent of distance no incentive for establishing links within the region, as all countries were mainly interested in access to global Internet Recent important changes (since late 1990s): end of state telecom monopoly in many countries competition and lower prices most LA NRENs replaced by commodity IP providers (for economic or political reasons) building out of new infrastructure based on submarine fibre optical cables

Optical cable infra-structure: 

Optical cable infra-structure Advances in optical transmission technologies have recently made it possible to build very long distance undersea communications systems based on DWDM In the late 1990s, many new DWDM cable systems were built, vastly increasing the installed capacity Principal new undersea cable operators in Latin America: Global Crossing Telefonica International Wholesale Services (e-mergia) New World Networks (ARCOS cable)

Worldwide Submarine Optical Cables - 2002: 

Worldwide Submarine Optical Cables - 2002

New Optical Cables in Latin America: 

New Optical Cables in Latin America Panamerican Global Crossing & Emergia ImpSat Transandino UniSur Global Crossing

New cables in the Caribbean (Maya & Arcos) : 

New cables in the Caribbean (Maya & Arcos) Maya Arcos (festoon)

Internet2: 

Internet2 Until 1995, the USA maintained a national R&E network called NSFNET, created in 1986. When NSFNET was created, there was no equivalent commodity service In 1995 all US R&E users were obliged to seek IP service from commodity providers In 1996, the Internet2 project was created, to provide “advanced networking” service to the R&E community, through the Abilene network Similar initiatives have been taken in other countries, especially Canada, Europe and Japan. Today, Internet2 connectivity is an important characteristic of R&E networking worldwide.

Present Internet2 Connectivity in Latin America: 

Present Internet2 Connectivity in Latin America AmPath uses Global Crossing connects AR, BR (2), CL, VE 45 Mbps all connections are point to point from Miami, and thence to Abilene Mexico cross-border connections to USA (TX and CA) AmPath

Present State of Latin American NRENs: 

Present State of Latin American NRENs Established education and research networks: With dedicated Internet2 connections: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela Some with dedicated int’l connectivity: Cuba, Uruguay Education and research networks being re-established (present nat’l/int’l connectivity through commercial ISPs) Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, El Salvador No education/research network (most connected to Internet via commercial ISPs): Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Haiti, rest of Caribbean

Argentina - RETINA (www.retina.ar): 

Abundant Medium Narrow Argentina - RETINA (www.retina.ar) 4 with advanced connectivity 8 in the near future 57 with low connectivity 45 Mbps to AmPath

Brazil - RNP (www.rnp.br/index_en.html): 

ATM backbone 14 nodes 300 Mbps total b/w FR to other PoPs 15 state networks Aggregate int’l b/w over 400 Mbps (incl. 90 Mbps to AmPath) new backbone in 4Q2003 Brazil - RNP (www.rnp.br/index_en.html)

Chile - REUNA (www.reuna.cl): 

Chile - REUNA (www.reuna.cl) ATM backbone 10 nodes 10/60 Mbps 45 Mbps to AmPath

Mexico - CUDI (www.cudi.edu.mx): 

Mexico - CUDI (www.cudi.edu.mx) Internal links at 155 Mbps 400 Mbps of int’l connectivity

Where do we go from here?: 

Where do we go from here? AMPATH´s achievements Initial boost for Advanced Networking in LA Stimulus for advanced connectivity inside each country Motivation for collaborative projects Connectivity needs, delayed till now due to high costs, being solved BUT Why does LA communicate internally through Miami? Why does LA communicate with other parts of the world through the US?

DANTE and Pan-European R&E networking: 

DANTE and Pan-European R&E networking In Europe, global networking also began with direct BITNET and IP links to the US from separate countries Since the early 1990s great efforts have been invested in pan-European networking, through the creation of a series of regional backbone networks: These networks have been built and managed by DANTE (Delivering Advanced Networking Technology to Europe), with financing by European NRENs and the EU Four versions of the pan-European backbone network EuropaNET (1992-1997) TEN-34 (1997-1998) TEN-155 (1998-2001) GÉANT (2002- )

TEN-34: 

TEN-34 Trans-European Network at 34 Mbps 20 countries operational in 1997 backbone speed inferior to internal NREN links (cost of int’l links)

TEN-155: 

TEN-155 Set up after liberalisation and harmonisation of European telecom industry Much cheaper int’l connectivity within Europe In some countries liberalisation delayed

GÉANT: 

GÉANT First network of the “Bandwidth Age” 20-fold increase in capacity over TEN-155 for the same cost Principal connections are 10 and 2.5 Gbps wavelengths Currently the largest capacity operational IP network in the world

Falling costs in the Bandwidth Age: 

Falling costs in the Bandwidth Age

The @LIS iniciative: 

The @LIS iniciative Through GÉANT, the European R&E community enjoys high bandwidth connectivity with N. America Initiatives already taken to improve connectivity to Asian-Pacific, Mediterranean and Latin American regions, with support from the European Commission @LIS: Alliance for the Information Society (2003-2005) 62.5 Million Euros for EU-LA on Information Society Issues 10 Million Euros for Interconnecting Europe & Latin American Researchers

CAESAR: Connecting All European and South American Researchers.: 

CAESAR: Connecting All European and South American Researchers. European initiative to prepare for the @LIS program Promote EU-LA connectivity through regional connectivity within LA plus a large pipe to Europe Participants: DANTE, NRENs of Spain and Portugal CAESAR Workshop 2002 in Toledo became starting point for CLARA cooperative organisation for advanced networking in LA regional network: feasibility study showed that @LIS budget sufficient to establish advanced connectivity to all LA countries

Slide25: 

Association of NRENs in LA open to all LA Countries constituted in Uruguay (like LACNIC) CLARA is not limited to @LIS/CAESAR time scale and restrictions Will connect LA to Europe and to other regions Cost to connect to the backbone will be the same for every country at equal bandwidth Improve Internet2 connectivity by optimising LA participation in AMPATH

CLARA Members: 

Argentina Brasil Bolivia Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Guatemala Honduras Mexico Nicaragua Panama Paraguay Peru Uruguay Venezuela CLARA Members

CLARA Activities: 

CLARA Activities May 2002: Brussels @LIS Interconnection Initiative Launched (CAESAR Project) June 2002: EU-LA Meeting in Toledo. Toledo Statement signed. July 2002: LA Networking Initiatives meet in Rio. CLARA agreement established. September 2002: Coordinating Committee of CLARA meets in Buenos Aires September 2002: CLARA & ICT TF meeting in Rio. November 2002: EU-CLARA meeting in Santiago February 2003: ALICE Project begun, with participation of CLARA countries June 2003: CLARA statutes approved July 2003: formalisation of CLARA in Uruguay

Comments about CLARA: 

Comments about CLARA CLARA responds to long-standing need for coordination between LA NRENs. Builds on trust-building already carried out between major partners Offers support for NREN building in other LA countries by provision of support and int’l connectivity

ALICE project: May 2003 to April 2006: 

ALICE project: May 2003 to April 2006 ALICE - América Latina Interconectada Con Europa Sucessor project to CAESAR Coordinated by DANTE, with participation of NRENs from Italy, France, Spain, Portugal and the CLARA countries, and eventually CLARA itself February 2003: technical definitions complete June 2003: Open tender for provisioning of links September/October 2003: Link contracts assigned January 2004: Network operational Notes: DANTE is the project coordinator and will sign contracts with users and providers CLARA is expected to represent interests of LA users in the medium term (one year)

Suggested network topology: 

Suggested network topology Major connectivity between Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico (at least 45 Mbps) Other countries connect to major nodes (between 10 and 45 Mbps) Large pipe to Europe (at least 155 Mbps)

Two possible ALICE network scenarios(based on first responses to connectivity tender): 

Two possible ALICE network scenarios (based on first responses to connectivity tender) NOTE: tender is still not finalised Network expected to be operational in January, 2004

Experimental networking in Latin America : 

Experimental networking in Latin America Internet2 style networks provide for today’s connectivity needs of the P&E community In future, with the growth of this community and its needs, new solutions will need to be provided Such solutions are currently being developed and demonstrated in experimental networking testbeds

Networking testbeds: 

Networking testbeds NSF classification of networking testbeds beyond Internet 2 (Tom Greene) Experimental Infrastructure Networks (EIN) - Internet 3 Networking Research Testbeds (NRT) - Internet 4 Internet 4 optical networks dynamic lambda-switched, OPS, OBS networks Internet 3 optical networks Based mostly on statically lambda-switched networks growing number of networks providing production networking support for advanced applications

Some current experimental optical networking projects in Latin America: 

Some current experimental optical networking projects in Latin America Chile: G-REUNA - Advanced Applications Testbed Brazil: Project GIGA - Optical Networking and Applications Testbed Both of these are a mixture of EIN and NRT (Internet 3 and 4)

G-REUNA (Chile) experimental network (2002-2003): 

G-REUNA (Chile) experimental network (2002-2003) Phase I of G-REUNA: R&D in optical networking and advanced applications IP/DWDM govt. and telco support 250 km network between Santiago and Valparaiso participation of leading research universities and national academic network (REUNA) http://redesopticas.reuna.cl

Project GIGA (Brazil): 

Project GIGA (Brazil) Partnership between RNP (Brazilian NREN) www.rnp.br CPqD (telco industry R&D centre in Campinas, SP) www.cpqd.com.br R&D community in industry and universities Build an advanced networking laboratory (GIGA network) for development and demonstration purposes Support R&D subprojects in optical and IP networking technology and advanced applications and services Industry participation (telcos provide the fibres; technology transfer of products and services required) Government funding for 3 years - started December 2002

GIGA network: objectives: 

GIGA network: objectives explore user control of optical fibre infrastructure interconnect 20 academic R&D centres in S.E. Brazil use of IP/DWDM with Ethernet framing provide Networking Research Testbed (NRT) for optical and IP network development provide Experimental Infrastructure Network (EIN) for development and demonstration of applications expected to operate before end 2003.

GIGA network: geographical localisation(states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro): 

GIGA network: geographical localisation (states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro) Fapesp telcos Unesp USP - Incor USP - C.Univ. CPqD LNLS Unicamp LNCC CPTEC UFF CTA INPE CBPF LNCC Fiocruz IME IMPA-RNP PUC-Rio telcos UERJ UFRJ Universities IME PUC-Rio UERJ UFF UFRJ Unesp Unicamp USP R&D Centres CBPF - physics CPqD - telecom CPTEC - meteorology CTA - aerospace Fiocruz - health IMPA - mathematics INPE - space sciences LNCC - HPC LNLS - physics About 600 km extension - not to scale

GIGA Project:Initial design of the network: 

GIGA Project: Initial design of the network DWDM WAN between Campinas and Rio de Janeiro WDM MANs in Rio, S. Paulo and Campinas Switches between WAN and MANs for IP packets and lambdas (under study) later: redundant topology and optical switching CPS - Campinas SPO - São Paulo SJC - São José dos Campos CPL - Cachoeira Paulista RJO - Rio de Janeiro

Some GIGA R&D subprojects: 

Some GIGA R&D subprojects intelligent optical network with monitoring and control of physical parameters optical amplification, dispersion, equalisation, SNR, ... optical switching architecture control plane: dynamical bandwidth provisioning and mesh restoration provisioning end-to-end optical circuits for specific applications IP over WDM: unified control plane and integrated network management high performance distributed applications advanced multimedia applications

Conclusion: 

Conclusion Both international cooperation (through AmPath and CLARA) and development of experimental networking have percussions: provides valuable opportunities for academic user community in LA to collaborate with peer groups in other countries permits the acquiring and diffusion of experience in advanced networking technologies, often absent in LA countries

Acknowledgements and references: 

Acknowledgements and references With thanks to many colleagues from both Europe and Latin America, too many all to be mentioned here individually. Most of the LA maps are by Florencio Utreras, from REUNA (Chile). ALICE website: www.dante.net/alice ALICE brochure (in English, Spanish and Portuguese): www.dante.net/alice/ALICEbrochure.pdf RNP website: www.rnp.br